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 Merciless! Sep 04, 2010
I was introduced to this genre when I bought "Blindness"! I had no idea I would fall in love with such darkness. In this flick a father and son have a plan to get to the coast but the problem was in the fathers choice in how to get there. They followed the road and they encounter some rather deadly problems. Just when they think they caught a break they're forced to run and hide. Cannabalism being the greatist threat that pops up in terrifying fashion.
The child in this movie is an increadible "Aussi" actor who will have a very long acting career! Check out the special features and listen to the commentary and you will understand just how good he is! Viggo is amazing as well. They both had to be at their best because they were the only 2 faces you see for about 90% of the movie. Their perfomance are powerful. You want so bad for them to make it but as I said in my title, this movie is merciless. Everything doesn't go the way you might want it to go. I adore the painful realism and more movie makers should watch carefully and learn something.
 Too dark, literally! Sep 04, 2010
The book was a mind blower - horrible to read about, but excellent reading.
The movie? Couldn't see a darn thing! I HATE movies that MUST be filmed in the dark.
Let us see it!!!!!
If it hadn't been for the book, I wouldn't have known what the heck it was about!
 Grim, serious, ultimately worthwhile. Aug 31, 2010
Post apocalyptic movies usually fall into just a couple categories when it comes to the plot. Of course they all evolve around the world as we know it ending in some disaster, but after that what do the survivors do? The Road is the kind of movie that delves very deeply into that kind of thinking. Other PA (Post Apocalyptic) movies use this mostly as window dressing for the basic plot devices often found in this kind of movie. The Road ignores those rules and ends up with a pretty disturbing, outright depressing, but strangely satisfying sci-fi film.
So what happened? Maybe Mother Earth got tired of the bullcrap and started tearing everything up. Maybe those crazy humans "finally did it" and suddenly wrecked the planet in the process. Let your imagination go wild on how. The movie doesn't really say. That's the beauty of it too. Instead of having the audience fixate on some exposition on what happened before the start of the movie we are pressed to focus on what's going on now with the end result. It also keeps us from focusing on how to fix it or coming up with ideas on how to overcome it. We are stuck with the players in this film as to how to survive.
And that's where the plot comes from. This movie doesn't really follow the standard PA plot of having some overlord of the wasteland to overcome like The Road Warrior or The Postman. There is no mystical haven to find like Waterworld or to a lesser extent Cyborg. There is no solution to save the world like Reign of Fire or Children of Men. Technically there is no plot at all. It's more like a series of events that transpire in the lives of our intrepid father and son duo. The real story is behind the relationship with father and son, and if you are a dad this movie will move you. It's all about their actions and reactions to their surrounding situations and between themselves. You get some good character analysis with this movie.
This movie could have gone in many different directions, but it instead stays on a very dedicated track. Director John Hillcoat could have made this a very different movie. There are roving bands of raiders with a penchant for cannibalism, yet the violence and gore are downplayed. Less is more in this movie, and it gives you that chance to use your imagination on what kind of imagery and acts happen off-camera. Other directors may have taken this subject matter and milk if for all the sensationalism they can get (I'm talking to you Emmerich and Verhoeven).
The direction the movie did go I'm afraid isn't any easier to stomach for some viewers. This world on the film is bleak with very little happening to be encouraged by. Even the ending doesn't really give you that much sign of hope if you're looking for something to tie things up nice and neat. In spite of all of this The Road gives you a lot to think about regarding morality vs. mortality. If you aren't afraid to be challenged to think about such things then in the end this movie not only gives you a satisfying ending it also gives you a lot to think about.
Technically speaking the movie looks wonderful. The location shots they picked really sell the end-of-the-world feel of the story and there was very little digital manipulation of what you see. Sound queues take a more important role in this film as the noises both subtle and obvious take part in telling the story. Acting is great. Vigo Mortensen really threw himself in the role, but then again that's what he normally does in every role. The cast selection hits home on this movie.
This Blu-Ray looks pretty good and sounds pretty good, but don't expect to be wowed by the presentation. This movie is full of greys and a subdued soundtrack anyway so it wasn't meant to be a reference film. This is one of those disks that bugs you with a mess of previews when the disk plays (Sony... just stop force feeding us your blasted commercials). The extras are slim pickings with not much to make it stand out over the DVD release. Here's the list:
Audio Commentary: Kind of off the cuff, but does go into the book the movie is based on among other things. The director even admits not really being prepared for doing the commentary, which still makes this a better commentary than many.
The Making of The Road: A relatively short, but sweet documentary that focuses on several aspects of the film with a good amount of detail for a featurette running under 15 minutes. They talk about the book, the actors (including some intruiging tidbits from child actor Kodi Smit-McPhee) and even some production details.
Deleted and Extended Scenes: These are mostly short clips so there wasn't much taken out. Not really a whole lot we missed without it being in the film. Although one delete/retake did have some details that would have raised some interesting water cooler discussions about the ending for those paying attention.
Theatrical trailers: Two of them that don't really get the true feel of the movie. I remember seeing one of them on TV before seeing the movie. If that and that alone was what I wanted to see from The Road I would have been sorely disappointed. No wonder the movie didn't do well in the box office in the states. Now you can see why.
BDLive: A BR exclusive and is something I never really attempted to play with for any movie... ever.
MovieIQ: About the only semi-useful BR exclusive on this disk. When active it gives you a mess of background info on the movie, cast, soundtrack, etc.
The Road is one of those deep movies that challenges you to consider things most people normally don't want to. The Fountain is another such movie. The father/son dynamic is definitely something for the dads. If you're an action or comedy junkie this isn't the movie for you. Drama fans who can get into subtle character development can get into this movie. Serious sci-fi fans may eat this up due to the world-changing environment and implications. The Road is a great movie, but be forewarned it's not everybody's cup of tea.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
lived up to the book but a little darker Aug 28, 2010
loved the book which is why i bought this movie. i thought the book wasn't very dark but after seeing this movie i think i might have missed a couple chapters. everything is "no hope left!" and "should i kill my son?" i don't know its probably because i pictured things different in my head instead of having them displayed in front of me. anyway rent this movie before you buy it.
Man vs man, man vs nature, man vs humanity: the film had it all Aug 26, 2010
Is the struggle to stay alive more important than the struggle to keep your humanity alive? The cannibals had found an answer to that question: Yes. The cannibals had chosen to survive over being people--they had let the fire die.
At first I just thought this notion of mass canibalism to be nonsense, that in such an event some framework of order would emerge, some basis of society would not relinquish itself. Than I was leaving a basball game and fighting the hoardes in traffic and I realized that I am a fool. If those jackasses would sacrifice their humanity in as much as screwing everyone else over to squeal out of a parking lot and get onto a highway a few minutes early, they would surely suck the marrow from my bones--in the event of total societal collapse.
The boy wanted to help others. His father was loosing the fire, he was focusing more on survival than staying human. The family, in the end, that tells the boy they had been following him just to see that he was o'kay, had more flame than the man did.
Just two questions: what's with the thumbs, or lack there of? And, if every garage in the country has a bicycle in it, why were they walking? The amount of energy required to casually pedal a horizontal mile is something like 1/10th what's required to walk it.
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![The Road [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61qC1x-yMbL._SL250_.jpg "The Road [Blu-ray]")
